


Quick Hellos and Soft Goodbyes

by Chrissss



Series: The Life and Times of Caelum the Keyblade Wielder [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Gen, No beta got too excited, Player and Strel are actually friends, Player's name is Caelum, and then angst happened, but then that UX update yesterday came and SUCKER PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE, i'll die like the illiterate i am, no romance even implied they are 12, this was supposed to be only fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26283505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrissss/pseuds/Chrissss
Summary: Strelitzia is a coward, but sometimes she isn't.
Relationships: Player Character & Strelitzia (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: The Life and Times of Caelum the Keyblade Wielder [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863196
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	Quick Hellos and Soft Goodbyes

**Author's Note:**

> SO That UX update huh? I've had this planned for close to two months now and it was supposed to be all fluff, but then that update came and my Angst Brain started working. To all of those who I promised fluff too, I lied and im sorry. Enjoy the fluff AND angst.
> 
> This was also gonna be rated G, but then I got to Strel's wound and decided to bump up to T because, while I don't think it's nearly as bad as what I had in Cold Light, it's still just a touch graphic. tw for blood all the same.
> 
> No beta I got too excited and wanted to give y'all something considering Ch 4 of MD is still now where close to done -_-.

Strelitzia always considered herself a coward. Oh sure, she could fight Heartless just fine and wander around the worlds unaccompanied, but when it came to the things she really cared about, namely friends, she was a coward.

Which is why the fact that she was actually _initiating_ a conversation with the boy she’d always wanted to be friends with surprised her so badly, even as she was doing it.

She had always been watching him, from the time she first saw him. Strong and kind, determined to do what he thought was right. She admired him, wanted to get to know him, to learn his name. Wanted him as someone she could call a friend.

And then, day after day, he sat at the fountain after missions and just… waited. For something or someone she didn’t know, but every passing day he got sadder and sadder until today when he finally broke down in tears and she couldn’t stand it anymore.

Which is where she found herself just now, approaching him for the first time because she couldn’t stand to see him upset for a second longer.

“U-um? E-excuse me?” she called out nervously. The boy jumped, ocean blue eyes widening in surprise.

“Oh!” he rubbed his face with an arm before a watery smile wobbled onto his face. “Hello. I didn’t see you, sorry about that.”

She shuffled in place and forced herself to meet his eyes, because this was important. “Uh, it’s- it’s alright. I just- saw you crying and I wanted to k-know if everything was a-alright?” Stupid! He’s clearly not alright, why would she ask that?! Ugh! Elrena would laugh at her so much right now if she was here!

The boy looks surprised again, then smiled warmly at her and she desperately hoped she wasn’t blushing. “I’m alright, thank you. Just a little sad.”

“What happened?” she asked, walking closer.

“My friend promised he’d meet me here and I’ve been waiting for him.” His brown curls shadowed his eyes, hiding his expression. “He hasn’t shown up yet.”

That didn’t sound like a very good friend, in Strelitzia’s humble opinion, but she didn’t say that because the boy already looked sad enough. She took a deep breath and offered, “I could w-wait with you? If you wanted?” before immediately backtracking, “A-ah! Only if it’s okay with you of course! I would hate to bother you and really why would you want to sit with a stranger ahaha it’s okay I’ll just lea-” 

Her panicked babbling was broken by the boy’s soft yet delighted laugh. Now she _knew_ she was blushing. The boy looked so happy as he tried to stifle his chuckles, freckles prominent from his own small blush.

“I’m sorry for laughing. You’re welcome to sit with me,” -here his smile turned a bit self-deprecating- “though it’ll probably be boring.”

Strelitzia puffed her cheeks out and said, “Well I’ll have to be the judge of that!” before plopping herself right down next to him. Before she lost her nerve, she stuck her hound out at him and said “My name is Strelitzia.”

A blinding grin split the boy’s face and he took her hand, saying, “It’s nice to meet you Strelitzia. My name’s Caelum.”

Caelum. What a pretty name. As she felt her own bright grin mirror him, she thought that maybe having a little bit of courage was easier than she had thought.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

_“Cae look over there! Let’s go see!”_

_“Strel, step away from the card player!”_

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

_“This is my friend Elrena! She’s amazing!”_

_“Nice to meet you Caelum. Welcome to the babysitting club.”_

_“Rena! I take it back, you’re so mean!”_

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

_“Hey Strel, wanna go listen to the busker?”_

_“Yeah! He’s there playing almost every weekend. He’s really good!”_

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

_“-and he’s super nice and really good at gardening, much better than I am-”_

_“You’re really good at gardening too you know”_

_“-and he makes the best banana pancakes and he’s always there for me!”_

_“So when am I going to meet this mysterious Big Brother you have?”_

_“I’ve finally set up a date where none of us are busy! Next week you can finally meet Lauriam! Just in time for your birthday too!”_

_“I’m looking forward to it!”_

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

 _“Why?”_ She struggled to lift her body as she heard her Chirithy’s broken whisper. She forced her eyes open, unable to do anything but watch as the blank-eyed blond boy robotically followed the order to move from the being cloaked in Darkness, taking her Book with him.

“...Lauriam…” He would be so sad when she didn’t show up for their meeting, when he couldn’t find her. And Elrena… Caelum. They would be so sad too.

She doesn’t know how much time passed before she heard a loud “STRELITZIA!” and frantic hands pulled her close. She knew that voice.

Caelum.

“Strelitzia!” Hands were ghosting over her, checking her wound, over her face. She thought she felt the gentle flush of a healing metal being used, but couldn’t be sure. Her vision was fading, spots dancing in front of her eyes, but she could kind of see her wound and knew it would take more than a few Cure spells to fix. A wide jagged slash with Darkness infecting the edges. Even in the dimness of the room, the red of her blood glistened. Her dress was completely ruined. She forced her waning attention to what Caelum was saying.

“-was looping back and I saw you go in and heard you scream, but then I had to hide because that boy walked out following that Darkness figure, something wasn’t right there, and and-” Sharp, fast breaths took over his panicked chatter.

“...Cae…” Something wet splashed on her face. Tears…? 

A shuddering breath and a soft sniffle. Through the haze, Caelum’s eyes shone like beacons with his tears. “Please don’t go,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry. This is all my fault.” Chirithy’s quiet voice sounded from next to her and she shushed them.

“Don’t be silly Chirthy… it’s okay.” She turned her focus back on Caelum. “I’m sorry I… have to go… but… I’m glad… I had the courage… to meet you….”

The last thing she heard was a quiet, broken “I’m glad too.”

She smiled as she faded away.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

In a land where the endless sea met the endless sky, decades and centuries and a millennium later, the vague form of a girl flickering in and out of existence looked to her companions as they expressed their joy at her returning form. A black-haired boy with a permanent scowl and a blue-eyed boy who seemed so very familiar.

“My name is Strelizia.” She smiled. “I finally remembered it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Those of you not okay after the UX update raise your hand *raises hand*
> 
> Boy oh boy what could that ending be? *cackles in the distance*
> 
> I have another one shot in the works that is ABSOLUTELY only fluff I promise ~~now if I can only finish it~~.
> 
> links to my Tumblr and discord are on my profile if you want to come to say hi or ask questions (*^▽^*).


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